Hicks: Britney Spears' handlers worried about Sam Lutfi

Britney Spears is on a tight leash, since the restraining order against her former self-described manager Sam Lutfi has expired.

The conservatorship under which a judge placed Britney Spears 4½ years ago reportedly remains in place due to her psychological issues, but according to new reports, the singer's father and fiance have Spears under tighter scrutiny than usual.

Just to be clear, even though she's from the south, her father and fiancee are not the same person

The conservatorship grants Jamie Spears and Jason Trawick the power to make both personal and financial decisions for Spears, and according to RadarOnline the pair are keeping a close eye on everything the 30-year-old does -- including keeping tabs on her cellphone and Internet use.

"Britney's cell phone and Internet use is restricted and heavily monitored, and this is done for her protection," an insider close to the situation said, adding that their priority is keeping Lutfi from contacting her.

The singer's handlers were granted a restraining order against Lutfi in January 2009, alleging he drugged Spears in an attempt to control her. Spears' father wrote in the complaint that "Mr. Lutfi has drugged Britney. He has cut Britney's home phone line and removed her cell phone chargers. He yells at her. He claims to control everything -- Britney's business manager, her attorneys and the security guards at the gate."

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Lutfi is suing the pop star and her parents for breach of contract, defamation and libel -- taking issue with Spears' mother Lynne's book "Through The Storm," which discussed Lutfi's role in the singer's life leading up to her breakdown, and the subsequent conservatorship granted to her father in 2008.

Since Spears and Trawick "essentially share a cell phone," the source explained, and it's often checked to see who has been calling. Steps have been taken to ensure that Lutfi's phone numbers have been blocked as well.

Is this guy Freddy Krueger or something?

Sources told RadarOnline that Britney's Internet usage is also heavily restricted as her handlers don't want her reading negative stories that might upset her again.

"Again, this is all done with love and for her well-being," claims the source.

That's probably what Lutfi said.

In August, it was reported that Britney had been growing increasingly frustrated by the fact that she's still kept under the conservatorship, but her team of doctors doesn't feel that she is ready for the conservatorship to end. At the time, TMZ also reported that it's likely her father and fiance will indefinitely control the business side of things as it's been an incredibly successful arrangement thus far.

JOHN TRAVOLTA REUNITES WITH OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN: Let's see, I'm John Travolta's PR guy and I need to make all these gay rumors go away. Let's see ... people loved "Grease," right? People feel good about Santa Claus, right?

EUREKA!

For the first time since John Travolta was a big deal the first time around, he will reunite with Olivia Newton-John -- this time to do a holiday record for charity.

Will she wear those leather pants again for the video?

Then again, that was almost 35 years ago. Maybe a nice reindeer sweater or something would work better.

The "Grease" co-stars have recorded "This Christmas," a holiday album benefiting two charities close to their hearts.

Equal portions of the album's proceeds will go to the Jett Travolta Foundation, an organization named after Travolta's late son Jett seeking to combat children's disabilities including autism and seizures, and the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre in Melbourne, Australia.

THINGS GETTING NUTTY ON 'AMERICAN IDOL': They're at DEFCON 1 on "American Idol." The Armageddon will be televised.

Things are going really, really well between "Idol" judges Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj. And by really, really well, we mean that neither has pulled out a gun and shot the other. But stay tuned.

Apparently during Tuesday auditions in Charlotte, N.C., Minaj de-railed the process by swearing at Carey and threatening, "I'm gonna knock you out," with Carey firing right back.

In footage obtained by TMZ, Minaj is clearly furious, shouting "I told them I'm not (expletive) putting up with her (expletive) highness over there."

Carey can be heard saying, "Oh why, WHYYYY do I have a 3-year-old sitting around me?" I can't see my kids, because you decided to act like a little crazy (expletive) and go all around the stage."

Sources say Nicki later threatened to "knock out" Carey before the video starts.

In related news, FOX has decided to turn "American Idol" into a pay-per-view event.

The fracas erupted Carey and Minaj were sitting at the judge's table, with Keith Urban sitting between them and Randy Jackson sitting on the far end, next to Carey.

The issue was allegedly a contestant's performance.

TMZ provided a blow-by-blow account:

Minaj: "Get this (expletive) in self control. Get in control. Get in control."

Jackson: "Settle down, settle down."

Minaj: "Don't lose your head. Don't lose your head (inaudible). Don't tell me I'm a gangster (inaudible) every 5 minutes. So every time you patronize me, I'm-ma take it back, and if you've got a (expletive) problem, handle it. "I told them I'm not (expletive) putting up with her (expletive) highness over there. Figure it the (expletive) out. Figure it out."

Carey: "Oh why, WHYYYY do I have a 3-year-old sitting around me?"

Minaj: "I'm not gonna sit here every (expletive) minute to have you come down and harass me every minute everyday."

Carey: "I can't see my kids, because you decided to act like a little crazy (expletive) and go all around the stage."

According to MouthToEars.com, producers ended the auditions for the day so the two judges could cool down, which TMZ confirmed.

That's some spectacular journalism right there.

TMZ went on to say that producers seem "uncharacteristically" upset by the blow up and are concerned about the two co-existing for the long haul. Of course they are

BRITAIN STILL THINKS ROBERT PATTINSON IS SEXY: For the fourth year in a row, Glamour UK has named Robert Pattinson the sexiest man alive.

But at least Rupert Sanders didn't make the list, which would've started rioting among London's preteens. The New York Post says more than 40,000 people voted in this year's survey. The "Twilight" heartthrob beat "Thor" star Tom Hiddleston and perennial favorite Johnny Depp, who were second and third respectively. Michael Fassbender finished fourth, followed by the ultra sexy-sounding Benedict Cumberbatch and Robert Downey Jr. "Twilight's" Taylor Lautner finished seventh, followed by Paul Wesley, James McAvoy and Henry Cavill.

Thursday is Oct. 4, the 278th day of 2012. There are 88 days left in the year.

1777: Gen. George Washington's troops launched an assault on the British at Germantown, Pa., resulting in heavy American casualties.

1822: The 19th president of the United States, Rutherford B. Hayes, was born in Delaware, Ohio.

1861: During the Civil War, the United States Navy authorized construction of the first ironclad ship, the USS Monitor.

1887: The International Herald Tribune had its beginnings as the Paris Herald, a European edition of the New York Herald.

1931: The comic strip "Dick Tracy," created by Chester Gould, made its debut.

1940: Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini conferred at Brenner Pass in the Alps.

1957: The Space Age began as the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, into orbit. James R. Hoffa was elected president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. The family comedy series "Leave It to Beaver" premiered on CBS.

1959: The Soviet Union launched Luna 3, a space probe which transmitted images of the far side of the moon.

1960: An Eastern Air Lines Lockheed L-188A Electra crashed on takeoff from Boston's Logan International Airport, killing all but 10 of the 72 people on board.

1976: Agriculture secretary Earl Butz resigned in the wake of a controversy over a joke he'd made about blacks.

1980: Fire broke out aboard the Dutch cruise vessel Prinsendam in the Gulf of Alaska, forcing the 520 people aboard to abandon ship; no deaths or serious injury resulted. (The ship capsized and sank a week later.)

1991: Twenty-six nations, including the United States, signed the Madrid Protocol, which imposed a 50-year ban on oil exploration and mining in Antarctica.

2002: John Walker Lindh, the so-called "American Taliban," received a 20-year sentence after a sobbing, halting plea for forgiveness before a federal judge in Alexandria, Va.. In a federal court in Boston, a laughing Richard Reid pleaded guilty to trying to blow up a trans-Atlantic flight with explosives hidden in his shoes as he declared his hatred for America and his loyalty to Osama bin Laden.

2007: Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, defiantly vowed to serve out his term in office despite losing a court attempt to rescind his guilty plea in a men's room sex sting. Former city maintenance worker John Ashley shot five people in a law office in Alexandria, La., killing two of them; Ashley was shot and killed by police following a standoff. South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il pledged to pursue a peace treaty and end their countries' decades-long standoff.

2011: Three U.S.-born scientists, Saul Perlmutter, Brian Schmidt and Adam Riess, won the Nobel Prize in physics for discovering that the universe is expanding at an accelerating pace. The NBA canceled the entire 114-game preseason schedule because a new collective bargaining agreement had not been reached with the National Basketball Players Association.